It is well known to produce light by passage of electricity through gases. This phenomenon has been used in lighted signs which display numerals, characters, symbols, graphics and the like, such as neon signs for example. Gases commonly used for this purpose are neon, argon, mercury vapour, or mixtures thereof.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,383,295, 5,126,632, 5,281,898 and 4,403,831 disclose various conventional display devices. U.S. Pat. No. 6,512,331 issued to the applicant herein discloses a luminous display device and a method of making the same in which a front member of transparent glass is fused to the rim area of a rear member having a recess therein and protuberances projecting from the base of the recess toward the front member. The protuberances are closely spaced with respect to each other and the front member to provide passages between the protuberances and a light discharge member between the front member and the recess. An opening extends through the rear member communicating with the chamber. A tubular member mounted on the rear member communicates with the opening for evacuating the chamber and filling it with an ionizable gas. An electrode device is mounted in the tubular member and is operatively connected to a power source for ionizing the gas in the chamber thereby producing light discharge fingers or streaks through the passages providing the desired display of light. The rear member is moulded to form the recess and protuberances integral therewith thus minimizing the number of parts of the display device. The content of U.S. Pat. No. 6,512,331 is fully incorporated herein by reference.
As the closely spaced protuberances in the device in U.S. Pat. No. 6,512,331 do not provide a pre-defined passage(s) along which the light discharge fingers or streaks are produced, but intersticial passages along which the light discharge fingers or streaks may be produced, neither the manufacturer nor the user can determine the light patterns produced by such a display, and in fact the light patterns generated by such a display are random and always differ.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a luminous display device and a method of manufacturing same in which the aforesaid shortcoming is mitigated, or at least to provide a useful alternative to the public.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a luminous display in which pre-defined light pattern(s) can be produced upon activation of the display.